Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Between 18-25 January the Church celebrates the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Each year, Christians are reminded of Jesus’ prayer for his followers to be united “They may be one so that the world may believe” (see John 17.21.)
This call for unity inspires congregations worldwide to come together in prayer. Various communities exchange preachers and host special ecumenical events and prayer gatherings. This unique occasion is known as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
This week is traditionally observed from January 18 to 25, coinciding with the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul. In the southern hemisphere, where January is a holiday season, churches may celebrate it around Pentecost, another significant time for unity.
2025 is an important year because it marks the 1,700th anniversary of the first Christian Ecumenical Council, held in Nicaea, near Constantinople in 325 AD. This commemoration provides a unique opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the common faith of Christians, as expressed in the Creed, formulated during this Council: a faith that remains alive and fruitful in our days.
To prepare for this annual observance, ecumenical groups in specific regions create a basic liturgical text, based on a biblical theme, that for 2025 has been chosen “Do you believe this?”(John 11:26).
For this year, the prayers and reflections for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity were prepared by the brothers and sisters of the Monastic Community of Bose in northern Italy. An international editorial team from the World Council of Churches and the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and then refines this text for global use, promoting the visible unity of the church. Here you can find the Final Text jointly released by the Dicastery and the WCC, through the Commission on Faith and Order, which also oversees the entire process.
Images
- “File:Chiesa Santissimo Salvatore (Cosenza)26.png” by Asia is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathers of the Council of Nicaea (375) with the emperor Constantine I, who hold the Creed